LETTER: Are we set to become a region run from Nottingham?

I believe Derbyshire is under grave threat thanks to a decision taken by our county council and other various city, district and borough councils.

In a short, uninformative news release today we are told:

“Council leaders in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire today submitted a joint bid to Government for the devolution of more economic powers and much greater control over their own affairs.” Sounds good, doesn’t it? However, what is glossed over as “challenging” in the news release is that the Government will only agree to devolve these powers to a directly elected mayor. Such a directly elected mayor would have his/her own budget, own offices and own staff and would have the final say over jobs, housing, transport and major infrastructure projects. In effect, if agreed, this would mean the end of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire as separate counties. Our county council would lose most of its funding and responsibility and we would become part of a “region” probably ruled from Nottingham. And, you know what? You are not even going to be given a chance to vote on this proposal.